The woman sat bolt upright. Her face colored swiftly. "No!"
"Let's not be hasty," Whitey said, putting his hand on his client's arm. She angrily pushed him away.
"No! Absolutely not! I refuse!"
How wonderful.How unexpected andwonderful.
"In anticipation of your possible refusal," Sindler continued, "we have drafted a request that the court order these tests" - he passed a document to Whitey - "and we fully expect the judge to agree."
"I've never heard of such a thing," Whitey said, thumbing through the pages. "Genetic testing in a custody case..."
By now Mrs. Diehl was full-bore hysterical. "No! No! I will not! It'shis idea, isn't it? That prick! How dare he! That sneaking son of a bitch!"
Whitey was looking at his client with a puzzled expression. "Mrs. Diehl," he said, "I think it's best if we discuss this in private - "
"No! No discussion! No test! That's it! No!"
"In that case," Sindler said, with a little shrug, "we have no choice but to go to the judge..."
"Fuck you! Fuck him! Fuck all of you!No fucking test! "
And she stood up, grabbed her purse, and stomped out of the room, slamming the door behind her.
There was a moment of silence. Sindler said, "Let the record show that at three forty-five p.m. the witness left the room, thus ending the deposition."
He began to put his papers into his briefcase.
Whitey Wilson said, "I've never heard of this, Barry. What's genetic testing got to do with child custody?"
"That's what the tests are intended to find out," Sindler said. "This is a new procedure, but I think you'll find it's the coming thing." He snapped his briefcase shut, shook Whitey's limp hand, and left the office.
Chapter 12-15
CHapter 012
Josh Winklerclosed the door to his office and started toward the cafeteria when his phone rang. It was his mother. She was being pleasant, always a danger sign. "Josh, dear, I want you to tell me, what have you done to your brother?"
"What do you mean, done to him? I haven't done anything. I haven't seen him in two weeks, since I picked him up from jail."
"Adam had his arraignment today," she said. "And Charles was there, representing him."
"Uh-huh..." Waiting for the other shoe to drop. "And?"
"Adam came to court on time, in a clean shirt and tie, clean suit, hair cut, even his shoes polished. He pleaded guilty, asked to be put in a drug program, said he had not used in two weeks, said he had gotten a job - "
"What?"
"Yes, he's got a job, apparently as a limo driver for his old company. Been working there steadily for the last two weeks. Charles says he's gained weight - "
"I don't believe this," Josh said.
"I know," she said. "Charles didn't either, but he swears it's all true. Adam's like a new man. He's acquired a newfound maturity. It's like he suddenly grew up. It's a miracle, don't you think? Joshua? Are you there?"
"I'm here," he said, after a pause.
"Isn't it a miracle?"
"Yes, Mom. A miracle."
"I called Adam. He has a cell phone now, and he answered right away. And he says you did something to help him. What did you do?"
"Nothing, Mom. We just had a talk."
"He said you gave him some genetic thing. An inhaler."
Oh Jesus, he thought.There are rules against this kind of thing .Serious rules . Human experimentation without formal application, meetings of the approvals board, following the federal guidelines. Josh would be fired in an instant. "No, Mom, I think he must be misremembering. He was pretty whacked out at the time."
"He said there was a spray."
"No, Mom."
"He inhaled some mouse spray."
"No, Mom."
"He said he did."
"No, Mom."
"Well, don't be so defensive," she said. "I thought you would be pleased. I mean, you're always looking for new drugs, Joshua. Big commercial applications. I mean, what if this spray gets people off drugs? What if it breaks their addiction?"
Joshua was shaking his head. "Mom, really, nothing happened."
"Okay, fine, you don't want to tell me the truth, I get it. Was it something experimental? Is that what your spray is?"
"Mom - "
"Because the thing is, Josh, I told Lois Graham about it because her Eric dropped out of USC. He's on crack or smack or - "
"Mom - "
"And she wants to try this spray on him."
Oh Jesus. "Mom, you can't talk about this."
"And Helen Stern, her daughter is on sleeping pills; she crashed her car; they're talking about putting her baby in foster care. And Helen wants - "
"Mom, please! You can't talk about itanymore !"
"Are you crazy? Ihave to talk about it," she said. "You gave me my son back. It's a miracle. Don't you realize, Joshua? You have performed a miracle. The whole world is going to talk about what you have done - whether you like it or not."
He was beginning to sweat, to feel dizzy, but suddenly his vision became clear and calm.The whole world is going to talk about it.
Of course, that was true. If you could get people off drugs? It would be the most valuable pharmaceutical in the last decade. Everybody would want it. And what if it did more? Could it cure obsessive-compulsive disorders? Could it cure attention-deficit disorders? The maturity gene had behavioral effects. They already knew that. Adam sniffing that aerosol was a gift from God.